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Three Steps To Develop Your Inner Circle – Part 3

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inner circleThis is the fifth post in a series on developing your own inner circle of leadership in your business. We are on step three of Dave Anderson’s three-step process from his book, How to Run Your Business by The Book. The first steps in developing your inner circle dealt with choosing, investing, and empowering them. In this post, we will discuss holding them accountable for results.

Higher Expectations

While it is common business sense to hold individuals accountable for results on a day-to-day, project-by-project basis, this concept goes even further with your inner circle. If you, as the business owner or leader, are going to carefully select, invest in, and empower a few of the higher-potential members of your team, then you are certainly going to expect a higher degree of “fruit-bearing” from them.

Jesus’ Example

Your goal should be multiplication of impact through your inner circle, just as it was Jesus’ goal with His disciples. Jesus did not expect His disciples to just go around winning people one at a time. He taught them to multiply themselves. That is why they delegated the feeding of the widows to the deacons in Acts 6:1-7.

This idea is also illustrated in the story of Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree in Matthew 21:18. Most people notice that it says Jesus was hungry and was therefore upset at the fig tree with no fruit to eat. But have you ever thought of the other God-given purpose of the fig’s fruit? The fruit of the tree is where the seeds are – its God-given system of multiplication! Could it be that Jesus was more upset about this than His hunger? What are the possible parallels here?

The fig tree was accountable to Jesus for fruit. As a result of its lack of fruit, Jesus cursed the tree and it died.

The lesson of the vine (John 15:1-8) is another example of Jesus holding us accountable for our fruit when He said the branches not producing fruit would be thrown in the fire. While I do not recommend this exact punishment to be inflicted on members of your inner circle, it certainly shows us a clear example of accountability!

Your Inner Circle

So how do we apply this to your inner circle? I think there are several things to consider in holding your inner circle accountable.

    1. Where did they start? If you began with really green members of your inner circle then your expectations are going to be different than if you started with tenured and experienced leaders. You need to refer back to Part 1 of this series when I told you to look at where your group is right now and determine the gap.
    2. The key is progress. Regardless of where you started with your group, are they making progress? Are they growing as a result of the development efforts you are making? Look at them both as a group and as individuals. Are they moving forward together? Is any one individual holding up the progress of the group?
    3. Address shortfalls. If there are shortfalls in their progress – either as a group or as individuals – you must address it. Find out what obstacles are in their way and remove them. Help them see the gap between your expectations and where they are. Then help them close that gap.
    4. Cut the fruitless branches. In the event you chose poorly or if outside influences have taken one of the members of your inner circle off course, you are to try to correct that. But if your efforts to do this have been ineffective and the gap remains, then you must act. It is better for you, the team, and the company as a whole, to cut this member from your inner circle than to continue trying in vain to bring them along. While this is certainly a decision that requires prayer and a lot of thought, it must be made.

Are you holding your inner circle accountable?

If so, are you pleased with their progress (and yours)?

If not, what are you missing? What do you need to do next?

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Three Steps To Develop Your Inner Circle – Part 2

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This is the fourth post in a series about developing your own inner circle of leadership in your company. I am following the three-step process outlined in Dave Anderson’s How to Run Your Business by The Book. In my last post, we discussed how to identify your inner circle and how to intentionally invest in their development. Now we will turn our attention to the next step in the process – Give up power to go up higher!

inner circle

You Cannot Do It Alone

If you have been in business for long, you already know that you cannot do it all alone! If you want to grow and expand your business (and the eternal impact that comes as a result), then you must learn to get more done through others rather than doing it all yourself.

Giving up control is tough for most business owners and leaders – even when it is a simple task. So asking them to give up real power and authority to anyone else is almost incomprehensible! Unfortunately, this very issue causes many entrepreneurs to fail (worst case) or stunts their growth (best case).

Give Up Power To Your Inner Circle

If we are going to avoid this issue, we must learn to give up power in order to grow. In the context of our inner circle of leadership, this is going to require us to give up more than just day-to-day tasks to them. We must be able to let go of some of the more executive tasks as well.

Of course, this is not a step to be taken lightly. Nor is it a step that should be taken quickly. We must slowly and methodically grow into this or we could run into serious trouble.

Examples From The Bible

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of giving up power from the Bible. First, consider Acts 6:1-7. The early church ran into a situation where there was too much for the twelve disciples to do alone so they were forced to delegate some of the daily tasks to others.

Note verse 7 in particular – “So the preaching about God flourished, the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.” As a result of their wise delegation, the church saw tremendous growth!

What about Jesus’ actions in Luke 10:1-12? Here He sent out 70 disciples and gave them power over demons and power to heal the sick. He gave them clear instructions about what He wanted done and how He wanted it done. What was their response when they returned to Jesus in verse 17? “They returned with joy!” What about Jesus’ response in verse 21? “In that same hour, He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit…” It looks to me like it was a success!

Practical Tips

What can we learn from Jesus’ example here? Here are some practical tips we can pick up from this passage.

    1. Give clear instructions and expectations – Jesus was very specific in His instructions to the disciples. When delegating to your inner circle, don’t expect them to know what you are thinking. Make clear your vision of the process and the expected results. This will help you to avoid many problems!
    2. Have them report back – Jesus did not just send them out and hope they did what He asked. He had them report back to Him with their results. We don’t know if there was a specific time frame for this reporting back, but that certainly would be helpful if it makes sense. This puts urgency in the process.
    3. Coach them upon their return – Jesus was clearly pleased with their results (v.21), but He also took the opportunity to coach them in verses 18-20. This is critical for their development and future growth.
    4. Celebrate success and build them up – As we see from verses 21, Jesus was excited about their progress. He praised God and “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” when they returned. He also took an extra moment to build them up and strengthen their confidence in verses 22-23. Don’t miss this step if you want your inner circle to continue to grow!

What else can we learn from Jesus in developing our inner circle?

Are you willing to give up some of your power in order to grow?

What is the first step for you to take?

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Three Steps To Develop Your Inner Circle – Part 1

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In my last two posts, I described why you need to develop an inner circle of leadership. We looked at several compelling reasons you need an inner circle, including the example that Jesus set for us. I also identified and answered several common objections to this idea. Now that you are convinced that you simply must have an inner circle, let’s take at look at how you do it!

inner circle

In this, and the next two posts, I am going to break this process into three simple steps using material from Dave Anderson’s book, How To Run Your Business By The Book.

The first step in developing your inner circle is to:

1. Identify and invest more into those with the highest upward potential

Identify Your Inner Circle

Let’s start with identifying the people with the highest upward potential. So, exactly how do you go about doing this? Well, first and foremost, I would pray about it. I would pray for wisdom and discernment as I reviewed my employees for prospects. Ask for Him to reveal qualities and characteristics that you may not already be aware of. Pray for patience as well. Jesus prayed all night!

Next I would look at your current leadership structure. The easiest people to choose are already in your key leadership positions. Hopefully, assuming you have these positions, the people you have here are trustworthy and have the potential you are seeking. Mutual trust is mandatory.

For me, it was fairly clear because I had been fortunate enough to have people in my key management positions that fit this role perfectly. Not only did they have the highest potential, but they also shared the same values and beliefs and were quickly bought in to the mission as I presented it.

Your situation may not be the same. If not, you may have to spend more time on this step. You also may see that you are not positioned well with your key people. While that is likely not something you can change quickly, it is certainly something you need to address over time.

Here are three keys to choosing these people:

    Ready – The people you choose must be ready to take on the additional learning and responsibility. Regardless of where they are now in their leadership growth process, they cannot be immature, unstable, or short-sighted. They need to be ready to take on the challenge you will place in front of them.
    Willing – Another requirement is that they must be willing, even eager to join this group. You do not want someone that you are constantly having to sell on the idea! They need to see the opportunity you are presenting and value it.
    Able – The actual level of each members’ ability to take this on depends on the general ability level of the group. While every member of the group does not necessarily have to be on equal ground with all of the others, they need to be close. If you have one potential member that trails the others by a significant amount, you may want to consider another path for them. Otherwise, they will likely hold back the progress of the group.

One note, it is my opinion that you may need to start with only one individual that IS the right fit rather than trying to force two or three others that are NOT a good fit. Think quality over quantity! Personally, I have a total of five. I am not sure there is a magic number, but I would not have many more than this. Intimacy is also important for this group.

Invest In Your Inner Circle

This step will be different for each leader, depending on the level of the members of the inner circle. Depending on your industry or your company’s mission, you may already have a ready-made path for leadership development. If not, you may have to create your own. The key here is to be intentional about their development.

Here are some simple steps to consider:

    Determine the gap – Look at where they are as a group right now. Look at where you see them in x number of years after you have invested in their development. Now try to plot out a path to close that gap!
    Gather material – Choose material that will reinforce your mission while moving them down the path you have chosen. Make sure it is not too far above or below their ability to absorb. Obviously, the internet is an almost infinite source of material! Consider joining a C12 group as one source!
    Schedule time alone with them – Jesus spent time with the crowds, but He also carved out time just for His twelve. He then carved out other time for the three. You have to do the same.
    Monitor your progress – Take time along the way to stop and check your progress. Document what you are doing. This will give you a sense of how far you have come as a group.
    Celebrate growth – Take time to celebrate your progress! While there is a lot of work to be done in this process, you need to enjoy the fruit of it as well!

Are you ready to choose your members?

What are your challenges here?

What is your next action step?

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Common Objections To Developing An Inner Circle

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In my last post, I told you why you need to develop an inner circle of leadership in your company. If you have not read that post, stop now and go back and do so. You really need to be committed to doing this if it is going to be effective.

Now that you know why you SHOULD develop an inner circle of leadership around you, let’s address some common objections to doing so.

inner circle

It Is Not Fair!

One of the first objections that arises at this point is, “But it is not fair to everyone!” The idea here is that those you choose for this inner circle will have unfair advantages and opportunities over the rest of your group. Folks, as Andy Stanley put it in his session at Catalyst recently, “Fair ended in the Garden of Eden!”

It is not your responsibility to give everyone in your organization equal and fair opportunities with your time and energy. Jesus did not pass around a sign-up list to those in the crowd, giving everyone an opportunity to be in His small group of twelve disciples. Nor did He give those twelve equal opportunity to be in His inner circle of three.

Instead, it appears that each time He intentionally chose those with more potential than the rest. Just like the master in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), you should give of your time and energy “to each according to his ability.”

I Don’t Have Anyone Qualified For An Inner Circle

What if you feel you really do not have anyone qualified to be in your inner circle? Well, there are several ways I could answer this.

First I will assume you have enough people from which to choose, but you do not see any clear stand-outs. In this case, remember you are looking for those with the most upward potential. You may have to start very small and do a lot of developing. You may have your standards too high or you may need to relook at your hiring process! Regardless, it will be worth it.

What if you truly do not have anyone with even a remote hint of potential for this type of group? What if you are such a small company that an inner circle would have to include all of your employees to be considered a group? In these cases, I would advise two things. First, find someone else to mentor you and help you develop as you grow your organization. Second, keep this inner circle in mind as you hire. Do not hire people that could not eventually be considered for this opportunity.

But I Am Not An Expert!

Another argument may be that you do not yet feel like an expert yourself. You do not feel worthy or qualified to gather an inner circle around you for furthering their development. Good point. You are not. Unfortunately, you will never be qualified! If you wait until you are, it will never happen!

To again quote Andy Stanley, he said “It is not your responsibility to ‘fill their cup’, only to empty yours!” You are not an expert, and as long as you keep learning, you never will be! But you do not have to know everything there is to know about your job or role in order to teach them what you do know. Empty your “cup” of all you know – that is your only responsibility here.

Lack of Time

You may object to developing an inner circle by saying you do not have the time to pour into them. This could be a legitimate short-term argument because some leaders truly do not have the time right now to spare for something like this. However this argument virtually ignores the long term necessity and benefits of doing so.

Instead of accepting your current situation, you need to take immediate action to work towards creating this time in your schedule through delegation and elimination of less-critical tasks. By replacing these less-critical tasks with leadership development of an inner circle, you will actually free up more time in the long run than you can imagine!

Do you already have an inner circle? Is it working?

If not, are you now convinced to start working on it?

What is your next action step? Have you prayed about it?

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Why Do You Need An Inner Circle?

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On two separate occasions during a 24-hour period last week, I had two members of my inner circle of leadership hold me personally accountable on mission-related issues. In both cases, they were “spot on” with their comments and delivered their message with perfect sincerity.

I needed the nudge in both cases, but was not exactly excited to accept their recommendations. At the same time, I knew they were right and I was glad they were comfortable telling me.

inner circle

My Thoughts

As I thought about these situations, I simply thanked God for the privilege of being able to work with people of this caliber and the mutual trust we have established. I have had an inner circle in place for over five years and continue to see benefits!

Of course, my next thought was that I really needed to share this on my blog! So as a result, I am going to give you my reasons for having an inner circle. In the next post, we will look at some common objections people bring up when discussing this topic. I am also going to dedicate the next several posts after that to laying out HOW to develop your own inner circle. I will include some recommendations for additional reading material for further help.

Jesus’ Example

So, we will begin addressing the WHY by doing my favorite thing…looking at the Bible! Let’s consider how Jesus managed His three-plus year ministry on earth. We have to assume that He knew He was operating with limited time to establish an ongoing ministry that would continue after His death (and resurrection!). We can also assume that He would have the wisdom to know the best way to make that happen, right? So how did He do it?

Choosing Twelve

Well, He started with a crowd that was following Him from place to place for various reasons. In Luke 6:12-13, we see that He spent all night praying about who to choose for his small group of twelve disciples. It does not appear that He took this task lightly! The next morning, He chose His small group of twelve disciples from among the crowd.

His Inner Circle

Next, we notice in Mark 5:37, Luke 9:28, and Mark 14:33 that he called out three of the disciples from the small group to go deeper with Him. On several occasions, we notice that He spent additional time with these three, exposing them to opportunities that the other nine did hot have.

Benefits

I may be simple-minded, but I am one who believes if Jesus saw enough value in the process, then I should as well. However, in case there are some of you out there who need more convincing, I will keep going!

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of developing this inner circle.

    You will learn in the process! – As you go through the steps I will lay out for you over the next several posts, you will realize that this process will teach you as you go through it. Not only will the members of your inner circle benefit from the increased development, you will also learn as you take the time to pour into them. If you are one who does not feel you need to learn, then please stop reading and click on the little red “X” at the very top right of your screen.
    You will raise the bar for all of your leaders! – Not only will those in your inner circle become better leaders, those outside of the inner circle will respond to the higher expectations. They will work to improve their performance and potential because you have shown them this is the way to get your attention.
    You will all gain strength! – While you may think your team members are all on the same page right now, by drawing a small number of them into your inner circle, you will increase the effect of their combined focus. Just like Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”
    You will gain accountability! – Just as I described in the introduction, we have established such a mutual trust in my inner circle that they feel comfortable enough to call me out. Whether we like it or not, we all need accountability!
    You will perpetuate your mission! – Just as Jesus did through his small group of disciples and, to a greater extent through his inner circle of three, you will exponentially increase the odds that your mission will continue long after you are gone.

Do you already have an inner circle? What benefits do you see?

If so, how could you improve it?

If not, what are you waiting for? Why not start now?

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The #1 FREE Resource For Christian Business Leaders

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free resourceI have a deal for you! With all of the incredible resources available to leaders by way of the internet, do you have trouble determining which one is the best? If you will bear with me until the end, I will show you how to get the #1 FREE resource for Christian business leaders.

This is not a trick and it is certainly not a ploy to drive traffic to this blog, though that would not be bad if it happens!

However, before I tell you what it is and where to get this free resource, I have to tell you about my search and the various places I did not find it.

Life-long Learner

You see, I have been a life-long learner. I love learning new facts and ideas. I enjoy learning about big concepts as well as trivial tidbits. I just get a kick of any kind of learning.

Books

Since I have always been taught that a leader is a reader, I have always sought out the next greatest book to teach me what I need to know. Over the years, I have found some really good books and I have indeed learned a lot from them. In fact, I have created a whole page on this website dedicated to my recommended Reading List. Many of the books on this list have had significant impacts on my life. I would not give up having read any of them.

Other Leaders

I have also been taught to look to those who are smarter than me and have more experience than I do and to learn from them. I have learned from my parents, coaches, other business leaders, and even people I have never met through blogs, conferences, and webinars. I am always looking to meet people that can teach me something!

But, regardless of all of the combined learning from all of the above sources, none compares to the resource I am about to reveal to you. If I could somehow measure everything I have learned from these sources, that total would hardly register when compared to what can be learned from the one resource I about to share with you.

#1 Free Resource

Enough of the build-up, already. The #1 free resource for Christian business leaders is godly wisdom, or as James puts it, wisdom from above. Let’s take a look at what wisdom really is, as defined by Webster:

    -deep understanding, keen discernment, and capacity for sound judgment
    -ability to discern inner qualities and relationships

If we could all have our fill of the above definition of wisdom, do you really think we would need a whole lot more? There is so much that we encounter from day to day in our businesses, families, and other interactions that would go so much smoother if we were filled with this wisdom. Can you imagine the impact we could have if we could relive some of our missed opportunities, but this time be armed with godly wisdom?

Value vs. Cost

I can tell you this…I will take all of it I can get. I have seen the results in those situations where my wisdom from above kept me from making a decision I am sure I would later regret. I have also seen the results when I failed to employ godly wisdom. I do not need to be convinced of the value it holds.

So, what does this godly wisdom cost us? Do we have to live for 80 years before we can experience it? Do we have to be able to afford a higher education to gain it?

No, no, no! It is free for the asking! Take a look at this:

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways. – James 3:5-8

All we have to do is ask God and have faith that He will do what He says He will do. It is really that simple!

Give it a try. For the next 90 days, pray earnestly that God will give you wisdom and have the faith that He will answer that prayer. God is faithful. I guarantee you will notice a difference! What do you have to lose?

What are you struggling with that requires wisdom?

Have you prayed for wisdom before?

Have you seen God answer this prayer for you?

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Prayer In The Strategic Plan For Ministry

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A new friend of mine asked me a simple question in his comment on my final post in my Strategic Plan for Ministry series. His question was simple, but convicting! My friend, Loren Pinilis (see his blog here), asked me how prayer enters the process of this planning. While this seems like an innocent enough question, it actually is a very penetrating question!

prayerI wish I could say that I had planned to address that separately or that I just assumed everyone knew that prayer was a continuous part of the process and therefore did not include it. Or I could be bold and say I was trying to draw someone in to ask that very question!

Confession

The problem is that none of these excuses are true. The simple truth is that I forgot! In a six-post series on being intentional about doing ministry in the course of doing business for the purpose of pointing people to God, I actually forgot to include anything about seeking God for guidance in the process! I left out the very One who knows all there is to know about ministry, business, and people. Are you kidding me?

Of course, now that I have done this, I have the perfect post material! How often do we do this exact thing? We plan, we strive, and we sweat the details of our efforts in every facet of our lives, but we often completely forget to seek His guidance ahead of time. Most often, we ask Him to bless our efforts once we have decided what we are going to do! This is insanity!

Why do we always seem to wait until we have run into an obstacle or crisis before we call out in prayer?

We are children of the Creator of the universe. He is all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful. He wants to equip us “with all that is good to do His will” (Heb. 13:20-21). All we have to do is ask! There is nothing that exists that is not available to Him to use to accomplish His will (Psalm 24:1). So why do we so often forget (or refuse) to go to Him in advance? Why do we always seem to wait until we have run into an obstacle or crisis before we call out in prayer?

Role of Prayer

Whatever the answer, let’s take a look at how we should pray when preparing our strategic plan for ministry in and through our business.

Mission Statement

As we discussed, the mission statement tells why we exist as a company. If this statement is to be used for direction, to make decisions, and to inspire us, it only makes sense that God should guide us in developing it. Our prayer should seek guidance from Him on our direction (Proverbs 3:5-6). Trying to do this on our own, without seeking Him in prayer, could lead to wasted time and failed plans.

Mission Field

The mission field is effectively our target audience. We need to pray for a couple of things here. First, we need to ask God to identify those groups of people He wants us to minister to. Second, we should be praying that He will give us the right words and actions for effective ministry to these people. Finally we should ask Him to prepare their hearts to hear what He will say to them through our words and actions. (Colossians 4:3-4)

Brainstorm

As the Creator of everything we see (Colossians 1:16), don’t you think God is more creative than anyone else we know? As we go into our brainstorm session to gather ideas for ministry activities, we need to ask Him to expand our minds and spark our imagination so that we can come up with those ideas that will be the most effective in pointing others to Him.

Action Plans

Next, we need to pray for wisdom in choosing and prioritizing the best ideas from the brainstorm session. We also need to pray that God would lead us in laying out the action plans (Proverbs 16:9) and that He would grant success in these plans as well (Proverbs 16:3).

Accountability

Finally, we come to measurement and accountability for our plans. Because we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7), I believe we need to ask God for more wisdom. We need wisdom in determining what to measure and how to establish good accountability. Because ministry results are so hard to measure, we need to be especially careful here. This another area that could cause us significant trouble if were to do it on our own.

What other roles do you see prayer playing in this process?

Is prayer a vital part of how you run your business?

Are you willing to follow His guidance when He gives it – regardless of the cost?

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Accountability – Step 5 In A Strategic Ministry Plan

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This is the final post in a series of posts on creating a Strategic Plan for Ministry in your business. At this point, you should have a mission statement with an eternal perspective. You should have a well-defined mission field as well as a set of action plans for ministry activities that will help you to impact that mission field. Now you need to lay out the accountability processes to ensure your action plans are executed and achieve the results you desire.

Accountability

Accountability Reporting Example

Let’s take a look at an example to illustrate my point. An easy example for our company is the CCA chaplain program (Corporate Chaplains of America). We have a chaplain assigned to our company as a benefit to the employees. By permission, this chaplain speaks to each of our employees face-to-face at least once per week.

He is on call 24/7 and 365. He will meet with employees after hours for extended care sessions in person or over the phone, according to their preference. He performs funerals, weddings, and hospital visits. He prays for the company and every employee on a regular basis.

On an ongoing basis, I need to know whether this program is achieving the results I expect from it. Fortunately, CCA provides their own reporting process as part of the program. They send me a report via email at the end of each month that details the activities of the chaplain. A report like this makes it easy for me to determine whether the program is working or not.

Here is an example of their report:

accountability

Your Accountability Reporting

Your reporting may look very different. It may not be as formal or it may be more so. The format is not important. The accountability is. While each ministry activity will likely present its own measurement challenges, try to make sure there is some ability to track and measure the activities and the results (if possible).

You should have some sort of reporting for every ministry activity on your action plan. If you cannot measure it in some way, then you need to decide whether it is worth doing or not. This is not to say that you are not to do anything that you cannot measure – there are certainly exceptions. It is more about making sure that there is accountability built in to every part of your plan.

Too often, companies come up with a great idea, begin a process or initiative, and never build in accountability. Without a clue as to whether it is effective or not, they forget about it until something goes wrong or someone leaves. This is simply not being a good steward of your resources.

Measuring Ministry?

There are a couple of challenges I will note about measuring ministry. First of all, we are not able to save anyone. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. While we may count the number of times someone turns their life over to Christ during one of our activities, we certainly cannot take credit for that. We are simply celebrating!

Second, we cannot truly know the condition of any individual’s heart or whether that condition has improved in a measurable way. To attempt to measure life change or improvement is not something I recommend. I think you get it, but measuring ministry is very difficult.

As a result of these challenges, we will most often revert to simply measuring our activities in ministry. As an example, look at the chaplain’s report. We do not attempt to measure the effectiveness of the chaplain’s prayer for our company and individual employees. We simply measure the number of times he prayed. We do not attempt to measure whether his care sessions had the intended effect. We can only count the times he had them.

I think you get the idea. When dealing with the heart and spiritual matters, measuring is difficult. At the same time, we cannot just leave our efforts to chance! Therefore we do our best to discern the right activities, maintain our focus on the right purpose, and then measure our efforts. We leave the results to God.

Do you currently have any sort of ministry results reporting?

If so, do you review it as often and with the same intensity as you review your financial reporting?

I won’t ask a third question…that last one hurt too much!

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Action Plan – Step 4 In A Strategic Ministry Plan

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action planThis is number 4 in a series of 5 posts about how to create a Strategic Plan for Ministry in your business. So far, we have created an effective mission statement with an eternal perspective, identified our potential mission field, and had a brainstorm session about how we will do ministry in the course of doing business. Now we will turn our attention to the laying out of the action plan.

Best Ideas

Now, I am assuming you have already completed your brainstorming session from last time. Depending on your preference of using a smaller team of key managers or a larger group of employees, you need to gather your team together again. Taking the list of ideas generated in your brainstorm session, the group now needs to sift through and find the best ideas, making sure they are in alignment with your mission statement.

Ideally, those that are the easiest to implement with the greatest impact should come first. You can also consider which ones are the most exciting in order to get the most buy-in from the stakeholders.

Categorize the Ideas

Once you have narrowed the list down to those that are the best fit for your current circumstances, you probably want to group them according to which of the three facets of ministry is appropriate (Evangelism, Discipleship, Service), as well as which mission field category applies (Employees, Customers, Suppliers/Vendors, etc.).

While it is not necessary to evenly distribute your activities across these categories, it is good to make sure you are not ignoring any of them.

Create the Action Plan

So you have a list of your best ideas sorted into the appropriate categories. Now it is time to create the plan to actually do them! A typical action plan should cover three elements:

    Task– What will be done and by whom?
    Timeline– When it will be done?
    Resources– What is required for it to be done?

Once you have laid out the action plan for each of your ideas, set some goals for the results. Don’t be shy!

Measurement Challenge

At the same time, you need to remember that by definition, the eternal spiritual impact we are attempting to make is sometimes difficult or impossible to measure, making it tough to set goals. Much of what we are doing is actually just “sowing seeds” and pointing people toward God. We cannot save anyone. Nor can we change their hearts. Even if heart change is a goal, how would you measure it?

Because of this challenge, it is my recommendation that you lean toward setting goals based on activity. If one of your action plan items is to place small new testament Bibles in your waiting area, then just measure how many are taken. If you are teaching a weekly Bible study for employees, then just measure attendance. In this case, you could take it a step further and measure how many of those in attendance go on to lead their own study! Either way, be careful how and what you target and measure. Stay true to Scripture!

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Of course, you need to make sure your action plan goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals as well!

    Specific– Determine exactly what will be done, when it will be done, who will do it, etc. and write it down.
    Measurable– Make sure you can measure the activity. If you cannot, how will you know if you accomplished it?
    Attainable– This does not mean to set the bar low, but to make sure they are realistic.
    Relevant– The goals need to be in alignment with your mission statement. They need to be important to you.
    Timely– You need to have a time frame or a target date. Open-ended goals are soft.

Start Now!

One hint here…though it is not set in stone, this is great advice. As the leader during this process, you need to encourage the group to agree on at least one or two action items that you will start tomorrow. Don’t lose any of the momentum you have built up to this point. Do something! You will gain a boost if you will be sure to do this.

Once you have set these goals for each idea on your final action plan, you are ready to move on to the last step in this process – determining the accountability process of measuring and monitoring the results. See you next post!

Are moving through the process with me or are you thinking this might be something for next year? Or the next year?

If you are, how is it going so far? Do you have some exciting goals?

Are you inspiring your people in a way that excites them?

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Brainstorm Session – Step 3 In A Strategic Ministry Plan

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brainstorming

This is number 3 in a series of 5 posts that outline a process for creating a strategic plan for ministry in your business.

So far in this series, we have crafted a mission statement that states, from an eternal perspective, why our business exists. We have also counted the various categories of people that will come into contact with our business on some level and identified them as our mission field.

In this post, we will look at how we, in the course of doing business, minister to those in our mission field in a way that impacts them for eternity.

Buck Knives Company

Probably the best example I can come up with is the Buck Knives Company. For decades, they have integrated the Gospel message into the course of business by including a small, printed Gospel testimony (pictured below) in the box with every product. As a result of years of doing this, they have multiple vertical file cabinets filled with letters and notes from customers that were touched by these Christ-centered messages.

ministry in business

So the question you must ask is this:

What is the true product of the Buck Knives Company, the knife or the Gospel message?

Let me ask you this…which one will last longer?

Brainstorm Session

This example from the Buck Knives Company aims to impact customers. What about employees and their families? What about your suppliers & vendors or any other groups we came up with when we identified our mission field? Well, that is what this step is all about. We have some brainstorming to do!

It is time to gather your team. Depending on your preference, you can include a large group of employees or you can start with your key people (that are bought in to the mission and vision). Depending on your size, you might even break into several groups. Either way, the point is to engage the participants in a creative session to determine opportunities and processes to minister to others while doing business.

This is a time for free-flowing ideas, not critique. That can come later.

Taking the three-fold definition of ministry I gave you in the last post (evangelism, discipleship, and service), encourage the participants to come up with ideas for each of the categories. You also may want to list the various mission field categories we identified last post (employees, customers, vendors, etc.) to help generate ideas.

The participants need to feel comfortable offering any idea that comes to mind, without the fear of rejection. This is a time for free-flowing ideas, not critique. That can come later. Any and every idea needs to come out. While one idea may later be scratched from the list for some reason, it may generate another idea that is a winner. Let them flow!

Expand Participation

While this is certainly a simple step in the process, don’t overlook it. Even if you start with your key people, I encourage you to later bring everyone into the process. You will likely get some ideas that would never have surfaced otherwise. Plus, you get much better buy-in when everyone is involved.

Now that you have your list of ideas, keep them handy. We will look at what to do with them in the next post. If you are interested, here is a list of 101 ministry ideas from C12 Group that you can use as thought starters. Feel free to implement any of them as well, but don’t use this list as an excuse to skip your brainstorming session!

Have you done this before? What were the results?

If not, are you willing to try it now?

When are you going to schedule it?